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Wednesday, February 20, 2008

I know that there are people reading our blog, even though no one ever leaves us comments or even lets us know they were here, and even though i've emailed this same request to a lot of people that we know, i thought i would leave it here as well, in case someone reading doesn't already know.Our friends Kristy and Howard are nearing the end of thier pregnancy now, and need all the prayer they can get. We all know that there is no such thing as too much prayer, and i'll keep asking for it everywhere i can for them. Baby Happy suffers from severe microcephaly and they arn't sure how long he will survive after birth due to these complications. For those of you that have no idea what microcephaly is, "Micro" means small and "cephaly" refers to the head. Most children with microcephaly also have a small brain and mental retardation. However, some children with small heads have normal intelligence.From the sound of that description, it doesn't sound that bad, but in thier case, it is that severe. Kristy and Howard unfortunalty had their second son, Issac, pass from the same thing, and were told at the time that it was caused by a virus during her pregnancy, and was NOT genetic. They assured them that they did not need genetic testing. Issac's passing was unexpected, and no one realized there was even a problem until 37 weeks(i believe) Issac was a fighter though and lived for 6 miraculous days before going home back home to his Almighty Father. Kristy and Howard have since had another son, Ben, who just turned one this past summer. At the end of July, they found out they were pregnant again. Everything was going well until November when they had thier anatomy ultrasound. Besides finding out that Baby Happy was a boy, they were told that his head size was just a little behind at that point. They were sent here to Pittsburgh to see a specialist where they learned that he was a little further behind head size wise, and on top of that he may/may not have a hole in his heart, and may have a club foot as well. Since that first visit to Pittsburgh, there have been highs and lows with Happy's progression. He has continued to progress, even though at this point i believe he's still about four weeks behind in head/brain size, he has CONTINUED to fight!! They have ruled out the club foot now, and they still arn't 100% sure about the hole in his heart. This is different from big brother Issac because Issac's head and brain stopped growing at 20 weeks. So for Happy to continue to grow, that itself is a hopeful sign. As you read up above, babies born with microcephaly CAN have normal intelligence, and at this point, we're not giving up hope!! Kristy had a non-stress test and ultrasound yesterday and they sent her right to the hospital and they prepared them for the possibility that Happy might be born today. Yesterday he still had fluid on his lungs since they are not fully developed yet due to him not being due for 6 more weeks, and that fact along would cause serious complications at his birth. Kristy and Howard were presented with options on how they would want to proceed at that point, what they wanted to do to try to prolong his little life, when in fact, there was no promise that it would. Could you imagine, i know i can't! It all depended on the tests that they would preform this morning if he was to be born today or not. MIRACOUSLY, this morning everything looked better, and Happy was no longer at risk, so they sent Kristy and Howard home. As of right now, they have a C-section planned for Monday, and even though that is not that far away, it's long enough to hopefully help Happy's lungs mature a little more so he has one little battle to fight.Now that everyone is caught up, here is what we are hoping everyone can help pray for:Peace, not just for Kristy and Howard, but for their two other wonderful children, Luke and Ben, to just relax and get to be a family this weekend without letting the worries of Monday overwhelm them. We are praying for Strength, for all of them, including their extended families, who will continue to hold them close, and continue to lift them in prayer no matter what lies in store for them.We are praying for Guidence for the nurses, doctors, and specialists that will be present at Happy's birth, to guide their hands and hearts to help this precious baby make his debut as stress-less on his litte body as possible.And last but not least, we are praying for HAPPY! We are praying that he proves these doctors wrong, and shows them that medicine has nothing on faith and prayer. IF, Happy does not show us our miracle, then we are praying that he gets to spend every moment that he has wrapped in his parents loving arms, knowing how much he is loved...Thank you, all of you, who are helping to hold this family up in prayer. We all believe in miracles, and are hoping to witness one on Monday! If you would like to read more, Kristy has one amazing blog, here's the address:www.babybolte.blogspot.com